Thefuture.fm, the recently revamped web radio service that features mixes from "the world's best DJs," has launched an iPhone app. The app offers access to mixes and music from more than 5,000 DJs. Users can search for DJs, as well as artists and songs included in mixes, and specify by genre (like Dubstep, Progressive House, Jungle, Neo-soul and Disco).
And make no mistake, we're talking serious mixes here -- some hours long with many different songs blended together. Thefuture.fm nicely displays what particular song is playing at the moment within a mix, along with a link to buy the track. The service employs technology built in-house called Mixscan to identify the songs within mixes (crucial both for royalty purposes and to help users find music they like within long mixes).
The app also offers a feature called "My Radio," in which users can assemble mixes to play back-to-back and essentially create their own radio stream.
Thefuture.fm's iPhone app is still a little rough in places. For example, in our testing the "My Radio" section required a manual refresh before we could see and listen to our chosen mixes. Some other functionality was at times noticeably slow, like searching. But the core functionality -- playing music -- worked flawlessly. And there's some excellent music to be found from Thefuture.fm.
Indeed, the best aspect of Thefuture.fm's app is how quickly and easily it moves users from the initial screen to listening to great music.
Thefuture.fm relaunched in late April. It was previously called Dubset (RAIN coverage here).
The service's CEO and co-founder David Stein tells GigaOM their iPhone app "is just a first step for his company’s goal to distribute and monetize music mixed by famous DJs." Thefuture.fm will launch freemium features and monetization options in July. It's also apparently "talking to various other music services about licensing its Mixscan technology, and the site is on the verge of closing a Series A round of financing. To date, it has raised $1.3 million," reports GigaOM.
You can find more coverage from GigaOM here and Thefuture.fm's iPhone app here. -- MS
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